Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat who is Chinese American, said she has been accused during her time in the General Assembly of being an “agent of the Chinese Community Party, a spy, a plant, un-American and a foreign asset.”
SB420 aims to weaponize that sort of racism, she said.
“This bill, whether explicitly or not, paints a picture that residents from certain parts of this world cannot be trusted,” she said. “They are essentially suspect and potentially traitorous simply by dint of their nationality.”
Republicans shot back that the bill is not racist or discriminatory but aimed at protecting the nation’s food supply and military from foreign adversaries.
“Just to say everything is racist, that is falling on deaf ears,” said Rep. James Burchett, a Republican from Waycross, Georgia. “I’m tired of it. I have been called that since I have been born, I feel like. And I am not that.”
The bill would ban agents of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents from owning farmland in Georgia or any land in the state that is within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of a military installation unless they have spent at least 10 months of the previous year living in Georgia.
Though the measure targets other countries, much of the discussion about it among lawmakers at the state Capitol has focused on China.
To be an agent, the person has to be acting on behalf of the country. The ban extends to…
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